Addition of women to Saudi Arabia show reportedly internally pitched to WWE

“We can confirm there has been at least a pitch to involve women in the May Saudi Arabia show from WWE’s side of things. We’re told that it happened a couple of weeks ago, but specifics are unclear at this point,” Sapp states in his Fightful Select post. “WWE has no intent to pull out of the deal with Saudi Arabia, and maintains a positive relationship with those putting on the show.”

Though Sapp does not go into details about who exactly pitched within WWE to have women added to the controversial show, he states, “…the idea has been ran by some of those in charge of helping facilitate the events, but nothing beyond that.”

WWE received backlash regarding their choice to hold a show in the country, after news hit that the government could have had something to do with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. There’s also debate around whether or not WWE should hold shows in the country due to their harsh social view on women. When the backlash started to severely heat up, Reene Young was approved to serve on commentary for the event, which happened a mere three weeks after the alleged murder.

It appears that this move could also be a knee-jerk reaction to increase positive PR, as stated by Sapp.

“We’ve not been able to gain any confirmation that it’s actually going to happen, but it’s something that many within WWE are angling for, with some suggesting they can spin the public relations aspect of it into a positive — a rarity for them when attending the country.”

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is set to return to Saudi Arabia in May and November, of this year. There’s no word yet if the events will be featured on the Network, but it’s said to likely happen.